Defrauding Seniors

May 8, 2007

Bill Scher

There is more evidence that partially privatizing Medicare is currently hurting our seniors.

Private insurers already have been given a role in delivering Medicare coverage. In addition to private companies providing “Part D” prescription drug coverage, seniors can enroll in “Medicare Advantage”—private plans that supposedly save money.

And Monday, The New York Times reported that some insurance companies are engaging in unethical marketing practices, getting seniors to sign up for plans with higher co-payments than traditional government-administered Medicare.

It also reports:

…Richard S. Foster, chief actuary for the Medicare program, said “the additional payments to Medicare Advantage plans, above and beyond the costs” of traditional Medicare, were causing higher premiums for all beneficiaries and speeding the depletion of the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund for Medicare.

Derek Pugh, a special assistant at the Campaign for America’s Future, focuses on economic growth and income inequality, including youth participation in the economy, the middle class, green energy, manufacturing and education.

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About Bill Scher

Bill Scher is the Online Campaign Manager at Campaign for America's Future, and the executive editor of LiberalOasis.com. He is the author of Wait! Don't Move To Canada!: A Stay-and-Fight Strategy to Win Back America, a regular contributor to Bloggingheads.tv and host of the LiberalOasis Radio Show weekly podcast. He has opinion articles that have been published by the New York Times, Minneapolis Star Tribune and Omaha World-Herald, and has made appearances on CNN, MSNBC and NPR among other TV and radio outlets.